Students from 27 universities have launched a campaign to end the euthanasia of stray animals found on campuses, a conservationist said yesterday.
Members of 29 student groups from the universities gathered in Taipei from Aug. 13 through Aug. 15 for the first annual meeting of a league that aims to protect stray animals and particularly stray dogs, said Chou Chin-shan (周瑾珊), a spokeswoman for the non-profit Life Conservationist Association of Taiwan.
It was resolved at the meeting that the students would help create “no-kill campuses” for stray animals, based on the belief that caring for animals is part of showing respect for life.
League members called on the public to stop using brutal, inhumane methods to capture strays and to stop killing the animals.
Instead, they suggested that a TNR (trap, neuter and release) program be introduced on campuses to allow stray dogs to be caught using humane methods and neutered before being released to stay on campus or be adopted by dog lovers.
Participants at the meeting said that when spotting stray dogs on campuses, faculty or students should find out why the animals are there before notifying government centers to have them captured and killed.
They also said that university authorities should help student bodies financially to facilitate animal management on campus.
The TNR program, first launched at National Taiwan University in Taipei City in 2006, has also been promoted and implemented at National Chengchi University and National Yangming University in Taipei City, as well as Tamkang University in Taipei County, Chou said.
According to tallies compiled by the Council of Agriculture, a total of 68,018 stray animals were captured nationwide and sent to animal centers in 2002. The figure had risen to 132,905 by 2008 and was 125,106 last year.
Of these animals, 42,222 were euthanized in 2002, and the figure grew to 93,205 by last year.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS